Many students often spend time listening to tunes from their favorite artist from virtually anywhere. This past summer, artists from all over the world hosted music festivals and concerts in New York City where they performed their top hits From Latin reggaeton to K-pop. Townsend Harris High School students cherished the moments they saw their favorite artists perform on center stage. The Classic interviewed several students about their concert experiences.    

A fan favorite part of concerts is the adrenaline that audience members feel when surrounded by a large crowd. On August 27th, Latin reggaeton fans went to Yankee Stadium for Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour. Senior Camila Zarama said, “I had the best time. It was the perfect way to close out the summer since I had been listening to his album, Un Verano Sin Ti, nonstop since it came out in May. The vibes were unreal and it felt like a giant party.” Junior Abbiegale Daljeet attended the same concert, and said, “everyone had a lot of fun screaming the lyrics. [The] crowd had respect for personal space and hyped up the beginning artists, as well.” 

Similarly, Junior Kristin Lai felt the same type of energy at Billie Eilish’s concert, Happier Than Ever. which she attended over the summer. She shared the experience with her sister and stated, “Everything about the night was very exciting, and when Billie came out to perform, everyone got really hyped which set the mood.” 

One of the biggest venues in the city, Madison Square Garden, welcomed soloist Harry Styles to its stage for 15 nights live. Sophomore Denise Chan, who attended one of the shows, stated, “I saw Harry Styles live for the first time at Madison Square Garden and I could not have asked for a better experience. Styles is my favorite singer and a beautiful performer with such a wonderful charisma and talent.” After attending this concert as part of Style’s highly anticipated tour, Denise also said , “He has the ability to light up every room he walks in -the moment he got on stage the ambience of the entire room changed. Harry had everyone in the arena dancing and singing their hearts out.” 

Many artists prepared special performances and conversed with the crowd. Kristin said, “I think [Billie] is a great performer who’s super good at engaging her audience.” K-pop group Seventeen visited the UBS Arena on September 1st as part of their Be The Sun tour. Senior Anna Kim stated, “[Seventeen] was really interactive with fans and made sure not to leave any time for boredom, involving the crowd in singing and dancing. It was also so interesting to watch so many people in the crowd singing and shouting in Korean, my home language!” In K-pop culture, many artists have a designated lightstick that encourages solidarity within the fandom and a stronger connection between the artist and their fans. Anna said, “It was a good atmosphere and the synchronized light sticks raised the vibes.” 

After the concert, many find themselves reminiscing about the few hours they spent there. Camila mentioned, “The post concert depression hit hard.” Whether your music taste lies in old-school hip hop or K-pop, concerts are always a fun activity for fans to connect with the music that makes them momentarily escape from reality and live in their musical fantasy world.  

Art by Veronica Kuzma